BAPTISM IS THE START OF A CHRISTIAN'S MISSION

VATICAN CITY,  JAN 9, 2005 (VIS) - The Pope's Angelus reflections today, the feast of the Baptism of Jesus, highlighted this sacrament which he said the Evangelists considered as the start of Jesus' messianic ministry. "Christ's mission, thus begun, was fulfilled in the paschal mystery in which, having died and risen, He took away the sin of the world."

  "The mission of every Christian also begins with Baptism," said the Holy Father. "The rediscovery of Baptism, through appropriate itineraries of adult catechesis, is thus an important aspect of the new evangelization. Renewing in a more mature fashion one's own adherence to the faith is the condition for a true and full participation in the Eucharistic celebration that is the summit of ecclesial life."

  After praying the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope said "my thoughts turn this Sunday of the Lord's Baptism to all the children who were baptized in the course of the year. I embrace and bless them. I also bless their godfathers and godmothers and, in a special way, the parents of the newly baptized, asking everyone to cultivate in them, through word and example, the seeds of divine life born in the sacrament of Baptism."
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